Almost immediately after taking a three-goal lead in the fourth quarter, the Syracuse men's lacrosse team got a golden opportunity to extend that lead to four scores.

Hobart's Charles Sipe was called for a slashing penalty on the faceoff, and SU's extra-man unit had a chance to extend the lead.

Instead, freshman Derek DeJoe took an early shot that sailed high, and Syracuse had no one behind the cage to back it up. Hobart took possession and ran out nearly the rest of the man-up chance to stay within three scores.

That was the final extra-man opportunity No. 3 SU had in its 13-12 loss to Hobart Tuesday at the Carrier Dome. The Orange went just 1-for-5 and even gave up a shorthanded goal with the man-up unit on the field. The Statesmen almost outscored Syracuse's man-up team with its shorthanded group, coming close to scoring a second goal playing a man down.

Matt Walters scored the only extra-man goal for the Orange, and Hobart decided to faceguard him after that. Coach John Desko said, however, that should have been an advantage for SU.

"We played 5-on-4, and normally that's a good thing," he said. "The fewer players involved the better in any unsettled situation. I thought we got some good shots and didn't capitalize once again."

SU is now 12-for-37 (.324) this year playing with an extra man.

The Orange's first chance Wednesday ended when Derek Maltz tried to knock a pass into the goal from the crease but could not get any power behind it. Hobart's Peter Zonino made the easy save, and the Statesmen went the other way.

Walters scored on the second chance, but on the third try, Hobart came up with their shorthanded score.

JoJo Marasco forced a pass into the middle of the defense that Reid Rosello easily picked off. He started the break the other way, and Ryan Korn was left open in transition for a long-range goal.

SU still had a chance to score with 12 seconds left on the man-up, but Pat Powderly fired a shot into the back of a Statesmen defender to end that opportunity.

"You could tell between (Zonino's) saves and the number of shots we took and the number of goals we got," Desko said, "Our shooting percentages weren't as good as they have been."

SU still managed to build a lead despite the man-up struggles, but the final missed opportunity proved costly. Syracuse did not score for the final 11:36 starting with the last extra-man opportunity as Hobart scored four straight to beat the Orange by one.

Paduda shines at the faceoff X

If there was one thing that had Hobart coach T.W. Johnson worried about his Statesmen's shot at a comeback, it was Cal Paduda.

His play had allowed Syracuse to control momentum for the entire game.

"They had momentum at that area of the field," Johnson said. "Obviously, if you score, you want to keep momentum. If you get scored on, you want to stop the bleeding."

Paduda repeatedly gave SU those opportunities Tuesday, going 20-for-28 at the X in the Orange's best faceoff performance this season. Although Syracuse could not pull out the win, the freshman faceoff specialist gave his teammates the opportunity to build and hold the lead for most of the contest.

Hobart tried to use two different faceoff men to slow Paduda, but neither had much success. Charles Sipe went 2-for-13 while Gryphin Kelly went 7-for-16 after a late recovery.

Sipe said the Statesmen were not expecting to battle Paduda at the X and had studied film on only Brendan Conroy and Chris Daddio prior to the matchup.

"He dominated Gryphin and I pretty good today," Sipe said. "We didn't have any film on him. We were scouting (Conroy and Daddio). They kind of threw us a curveball there, but hats off, he did a great job today."

It was Paduda's first start at the X this year. He played sparingly in the Orange's first 10 games but came off the bench Saturday to take 18 faceoffs against Rutgers.

Desko said the coaching staff will look at Georgetown's faceoff men before deciding who will start at the X Saturday against the Hoyas. He also added, though, Cal had done a great job in the last two contests, especially in Tuesday's contest.

"Brendan Conroy, Elliott Burr and Chris Daddio, we all challenge each other in practice," Paduda said. "It creates a really healthy environment for us to grow and get better at the X. Today was an accumulation of all our efforts."